Fairies Will Play
by Robotic Draconian
Summary: Fairy Tail is a band climbing in popularity, but as they're trying to enter a show that will hopefully spike their ratings, a problem occurs. But what if Jellal, Japan's number one guitarist, has a compromise? AU. Jerza; possibly other couples.
1. Chapter 1

Fairies Will Play

The bright lights. The roaring fans. The sound of guitars, drums, violins. It was all so much to take in some times. As the sounds grew louder and the stage opened up to us, I almost couldn't breathe as I took in tonight's audience. Over ten-thousand people stood cheering. I felt a tap on my shoulder as our guitarist, Gajeel, passed by me, waking me from my stupor. I took a deep breath and walked towards the microphone, gently grabbing the stand as I reached it.

A gentle rhythm began as Gray started tapping his drums, followed by a light tone by Gajeel's guitar. And as Natsu started working his bass, the fans exploded, my voice flowing from me, as it always has. Gray's tempo sped up, as did Natsu's. Lucy and Levy from the side started up with their violins, playing a gentle tone in unison, giving Gajeel his signal to start up a harder rhythm on his side. Mirajane soon joined in with her piano, Gray's beating more prominent as the song hit its midpoint.

The spotlights found their way over to me as my voice began to speed up and my pitch rise. The fans began cheering harder and harder as Natsu's solo came up. As I finished with the lyrics, I backed up slightly from the microphone stand to show it was his turn. The pink-haired bassist slid onto the middle of the stage, the spotlights focusing on his as he wailed at his instrument, beginning with a maddeningly quick pace, slowing down before shooting the tempo back up. As he finished up his last, elongated note, the audience exploded into applause.

…

"What was that, spice breath?" Gray started, Natsu giving him an irritated look as we entered into our room. "Your rhythm was way off! It was pathetic!" Lucy and Levy sighed, not even having a chance of silence.

"You have a problem with how I play, iceman? My rhythm was perfect! And even when it isn't, it sounds way better than your annoying tapping!" The two were already butting heads, literally, barely having spent a minute within the very room they were supposed to relax in.

"Stop it you two." Erza commanded, the two hotheads immediately splitting apart. She sighed, still not being fully used to the large stages that she now played at. She sat down on one of the couches, her legs crossed.

"Well, I'm just glad the show went without any problems." Levy put out. Gajeel chuckled, noting how he would've fixed it, if a problem had arrived. His confidence did put a little bit of ease on Levy, though his arrogance did frustrate her at times.

Lucy sat down next to Erza, "The shift from the sizes of shows we play at did change pretty quickly, so I'm actually pretty surprised things have gone as smoothly as they have. Though not that I'm ungrateful for that or anything." She added as a side note.

Natsu jumped up behind her, putting his arm around her, "Oh come on. We rock! Of course there weren't going to be any problems!" With his usual stupid grin, he gloated, basking in his own self-image. Lucy sighed at his boasting, but also happy that Natsu was happy.

The door suddenly opened and the group turned towards it to see their manager, Happy, and secretary, Juvia. "Good work guys!" Their feline boss congratulated. "You really killed it out there. I knew it was a good choice to sponsor you guys!" Juvia nodded along as he gloated.

"Thank you for that, by the way." Erza stated, "These last two weeks have been amazing. Especially with these crowds."

"Pfft! These crowds are nothing yet. Just wait until you're in the top ten!" Happy stated matter-of-factly. "Now _those_ are crowds!" He crossed his arms, Juvia continued to nod behind him.

"So, when do we get there?" Gajeel questioned.

"I give it a year!" Natsu jumped in. "I mean, with how great we are, how can we not?" Natsu started into a long laugh, Gajeel and even Gray joining in.

Happy sighed, "At this rate…you know what, I'll just let them have their fantasy." Mirajane smiled at the comment, watching as the three guys of the band continued with their fun.

"So, when's our next show?" Levy questioned turning to Happy and Juvia.

Juvia looked down at a clipboard with a list of shows, "Actually, you might be able to get a taste of those larger crowds sooner than you thought." Everyone turned towards her. "There is quite a large show going on in Tokyo soon, supposed to feature three hours worth of bands, one after the other. If we're able to get in, then that would do wonders for your ratings."

"That's great!" Natsu proclaimed. "I can't wait!"

"Wait…" Erza started. "What do you mean, _if_ we're able to get in?" Everyone turned towards Juvia once again for her answer.

"Well, it is a very large show. People from all over Japan will be trying to get into this show." Juvia explains. "So it will depend more on luck whether they'll have an open spot for us. I took the liberty of sending in the form three days ago, but now it's left up to luck."

"Well, if we can't get in, we can't." Lucy stated, trying to keep calm.

"Oh, you'll get in." Happy stated. "One way or the other." Before anyone could question what he meant, he bade them farewell and turned out of the room, Juvia following close behind, closing the door behind her.

"I'm not exactly sure how I should feel about that." Erza stated, Lucy and Levy nodding.

…

Heels clicked on tile floors, agents passing by one after the other. She could already hear the noise as she neared her employee's room. Reporters and paparazzi flooded in front of the room. She put her fingers in her mouth and let out an ear-piercing whistle, moving everyone aside, letting her enter uninhibited. The door closed behind her, and the noise began again. The first thing she heard was the strumming of her employee's guitar. She looked around to see him mindlessly picking at his instrument, forming a slow, sad tune.

His blue hair and tattoo gave him an air of either depression or rebellion, depending on the way he held himself. "What is it, Ultear?" He questioned, not bothering to look up from where he was sitting. His eyes were drooped, bags under his eyes.

Ultear sighed. He had become like this ever since he had entered the top ten, and it became even worse when he hit the top. "We're heading for Tokyo." She stated simply, knowing she had informed him of the annual Magic Music show. Three hours of back-to-back bands and singers. Jellal Fernandes, the number one singer in Japan was to play the first and last song of the show.

Jellal sighed as he laid his guitar down on its stand. He stood up and walked over to the room's fridge, grabbing a drink from it. "How long?" He cracked open the can and waited for her answer.

"We'll be there in three days, about a week before the show starts. That should give you a chance to figure out which two songs you'll be singing." Ultear noted, jotting this down on her clipboard. _It'll also give him a chance to relax and rest a bit. Maybe he'll be able to get rid of those bags under his eyes._

Jellal nodded, sitting back down and picking his guitar back up. "I'd like to have a new song to wrap the show up, so that should give me enough time to finish." He sighed, "So ten days, huh?"

"Well, I'll be going then." Ultear stated, heading for the door. The noise subsided as she commanded the reporters and paparazzi to scram. She took one last look at Jellal as he strummed away before closing the door.

To Be Continued…

* * *

**So I have very little idea of where I'm going with this...**


	2. Chapter 2

Fairies Will Play

He was pretty sure he was going to puke. As the tour bus careened down the street, Natsu held his head within the bucket that Gray had passed along to him. Gajeel was tuning his guitar, doing his best to ignore Natsu's retching. Lucy and Levy were passing story ideas back and forth between one another while Mirajane mixed drinks over by the bar, doing her best to keep the glasses from falling. Finally, Erza was eating a piece of strawberry cake, which she always made sure she had plenty of.

"This is ridiculous." Gray stated, staring down at Natsu, who couldn't speak back because of all the vomit he had backed up. "You would think you would be used to this by now. Or at least have been smart enough to get to some medicine for this."

The bus hit a bump, causing Mirajane to spill her drink, yet again. She sighed, grabbing the glass, thankful that it hadn't shattered, though it did crack so she had to throw it away anyway. She then pulled out a towel from the drawers and started cleaning up the liquid. The bump had also caused Natsu to slam the bucket into his forehead. He groaned, biting his lip to keep the vomit from exiting his mouth.

"Guh, I can smell it." Gajeel stated, putting his arm over his nose. He looked over at Natsu, "Is there any reason we don't just knock him out?"

"Because bruises wouldn't look good on his already ugly face." Gray stated, getting muffled insults from Natsu. "Uh huh, whatever you say, flame breath." Their drummer decided to ignore Natsu and just decided to sit back down, ignoring Lucy's plea to put his shirt back on.

"Good to see that you're all in good spirits." Happy stated as he entered from the front of the bus, with Juvia behind him as always.

"We'll be arriving in Tokyo in the next three hours, so please be patient." Juvia stated, noticing Natsu's state.

"By the way," Gray started, "You never exactly told us what the show is."

Realizing that he was right, Juvia began going through her list. "I-I think it was 'Music Magic', or was 'Magical Musical', or perhaps-"

"Magic Music." Happy stated. "Close though." He said to Juvia, who was now looking down in embarrassment; especially since it was Gray who had noticed her mistake. "Anyway, we've still yet to get confirmation on whether you'll be accepted into the show or not. But don't worry, even if there's a problem, I'll have it covered."

"We trust you." Erza stated, setting down her now empty plate. "I have full faith in your ability as manager. As I'm sure the rest of us do." Everyone smiled at Happy, even Natsu who had momentarily forgotten about the vomit in his throat.

. . .

"Oh, I missed you so much! Oh sweet ground!" Natsu screamed out, rubbing his cheek against the pavement.

"Thankfully you didn't puke." Gray stated, "So, where are we staying until this 'Music Magic' thing starts?"

"Well, first we'll be going to register." Happy states.

"Wait, didn't Juvia say that she already sent in the form?" Erza questioned.

"That may be so, but we still need to let them know that we'll be here. It gives us a slight edge over the people who aren't here yet." The feline said it with such confidence…

. . .

"Sorry, but all the positions are taken." They couldn't believe it. "The last position was taken up two days ago. They all turned towards Happy, who strode up and climbed to the top of the counter.

"Fish?" He pulled out a fish, outstretching it towards the man.

"I hate fish." The man replied, a shocked look appearing on Happy's face. He fell to the ground muttering, "My plan failed…"

"THAT WAS YOUR PLAN?!" Everyone in unison yelled.

Natsu turned towards the man behind the counter, "Come on, there's gotta be something you can do!" The man sighed, reaching for the button to call security.

"Natsu!" As Erza spoke, the pink-haired hothead backed off. She bowed to the man, "I apologize for the disturbance. We'll be leaving." With that, she was glad to not be thrown out by security and keep at least a little bit of her dignity.

. . .

The bumps in the road continued to disturb his flow, knocking his fingers off from where he wanted to place them. Jellal sighed, putting his guitar down on its stand, letting the silence wash over him. He turned towards the window, watching the people as they sped by. He caught sight of a poster for the Music Magic show, and in response sighed, tiring of the noise that came from his job. He put his head in his hands, elbows on his legs, trying to stop the headache from encroaching on him. Once he was sure it had passed, he looked up to see Ultear. "Should I get some aspirin?" She asked, indicating with her thumb towards a medicine cabinet.

"I'm fine." He responded dryly. "They come and go." His blue hair flicked as he suddenly sat straight back up. He leaned back in the couch, crossing his legs. "How long?" He asked yet again.

"We'll be at the hotel in ten minutes." Ultear sat down at the opposite couch. "We already have confirmation, so you can get some rest." It was a suggestion more than an order, knowing that he wouldn't do anything that she _told_ him to do. He was at least rebellious in that aspect.

He slowly shook his head, "No, I need to finish the-" He cut himself off as a yawn escaped his lips. "Song…" He finished, not looking Ultear in the eyes.

She sighed, getting up from the couch. "Very well, but at least _try_ to get some rest before the show. You look half-dead as it is, and makeup isn't going to hide a yawn, even if it does hide those bags under your eyes." She went into the front of the bus, leaving Jellal to think about her words as he put his finger over his tattoo; an old habit he had developed over the years. He yawned again, and decided that since he couldn't play the guitar anyway, he'd rest his eyes until they got to the hotel.

. . .

The silence spoke volumes for the situation. Mirajane was holding Happy, the manager seeming to be quite dead, and they probably would've thought he was too if not for the fact that he was mumbling about fish. Gray sighed, "So…what now?"

"I guess we should find a hotel until Happy feels better." Levy suggested. Lucy and Erza nodded in agreement.

"I'm going to go get some food." Natsu stated, walking away from the rest of the group, receiving some blank and confused stares from the rest of the group.

"Natsu, wait!" Happy suddenly yelled, running after Natsu. "I wanna pick up some more fish!"

Gajeel sighed, "Why not? I'm pretty hungry too." He walked off as well, leaving the others to stare in disbelief.

"Was our manager's mood just lifted by the mentioning of food?" Lucy asked, simply getting confirming nods from everyone else. She sighed, "Should we follow? Those three can only cause trouble." Everyone's heads snapped up as they realized she was right.

"We should probably follow to make sure that they're okay." Levy stated.

"You can go for whatever reason you want to, I'm hungry." Gray stated.

And with that, Fairy Tail was heading out for an evening of food and drinks.

. . .

The bus came to a stop, the bluenette's eyes shooting open as the vibrations stopped. He slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes and letting out an elongated yawn. He heard the clacking of Ultear's heels moments before she entered the cabin of the bus. "Are we at the hotel?" She nodded in response. Jellal stood up and began stretching. "We've got a week before the show, right?" She nodded once again. "Good." He walked off, heading for the cabin's door. "I'm going to go check the area out. Maybe pick up some food."

"I'll go with you." Ultear stated matter-of-factly, knowing that Jellal was good with dealing with fans. And seeing as the musical event of the year would be going down soon, she was sure that there would be all manner of people who would recognize him.

Jellal stared at Ultear for a moment before sighing, "Do whatever you want." He went through the door, leaving it open for her. She smiled, knowing that he liked the company. She walked out behind him, shutting the bus's door behind her.

. . .

They could've possibly been the loudest group of people to have ever entered into the bakery. Natsu, drinking pure Tabasco sauce he had grabbed from an earlier shop and covering everything he ordered with it. Gray, who grabbed the coldest things he could, and even shoved some things into a cooler before just devouring them. Happy, who was eating every fish in town he could find. And then there was Gajeel, who was eating…pure…iron. The people running the bakery were possibly scared shitless…or just glad that they were getting so much business.

"Um…shouldn't we stop them?" Lucy wondered.

"Let them have their fun." Mirajane replied.

"Um…Erza?" She started, but quickly stopped talking once she saw that the redhead was already on her third piece of strawberry cheesecake. "Never mind."

A bell rang as the bakery's front door swung open. "Good day!" The employees greeted.

Lucy nearly choked on her coffee as she saw who opened the door, "Oh my god! Levy look!" She directed her friend's eyes towards the blue-haired boy who had just entered the bakery. Lucy only got a blank stare from Levy, telling her that she had no idea who that was. "That's Jellal Fernandes! He's the number one guitarist, as well as singer, in Japan!" Erza heard as well, turning to see the bluenette enter the shop, talking casually with the employees, who didn't seem to realize who he was yet.

Thankfully, no else heard the conversation, or there might've been a commotion. Erza squinted as she laid her eyes on the tattoo. _It seems oddly familiar._ She shrugged the feeling off, guessing that she probably just saw a poster of him before. Lucy kept her eyes on Jellal and the woman who tagged along with him.

He went to take a seat at a table, passing by the four males of Fairy Tail. Happy took notice of them, "Ultear?" The woman jerked to the side, seeming to recognize the voice.

"H-Happy…so you're here two, are you?" She sighed. "Is there something that you want?"

The feline cocked his head, "I can't greet someone from work?" He asked innocently.

"You know her, Happy?" Natsu questioned.

Happy nodded, "She's Ultear Milkovich! We're both managers at the same agency!"

"Yes, but fortunately for me I haven't had six bands quit on me because of my bargaining skills." Ultear stated.

"Hey! Only five have quit on me!" Happy corrected her.

"THAT'S WHAT YOU'RE UPSET ABOUT?!" Lucy and Levy burst out, completely being ignored.

"So I assume that you're here for Music Magic?" Ultear asked.

Happy nodded, "Yes, we're here for…" It then clicked in his mind that they couldn't get in. "Well, we were, anyway…" He sighed. "All the positions were filled…And he said he hated fish…"

"He?"

"The jerk behind that counter!" Natsu answered, swallowing another bottle of Tabasco sauce to calm down.

"I…see…So I suppose you'll be leaving then?"

"Nah." Happy said, waving his hand. "There's more fish in town."

"CAN YOU FOCUS?!" Lucy and Levy screamed, ignored yet again.

"Y'know, maybe you'd be able to get somewhere if you didn't focus so much on fish." Ultear stated.

"I think everyone else should focus more on fish." Happy stated, crossing his arms, a confident smile on his face.

"Fine. Believe whatever you want. I'll be dealing with Jellal's _millions _of fans, while you're still bribing people with fish."

"…" Happy stared at her in silence for a few moments. "I feel like you're not worshipping me."

"YOU JUST FIGURED THAT OUT?!" Lucy, Levy and Ultear screamed all at once.

Ultear sighed in frustration, "Listen hear you stupid cat! I don't worship any-"

"Hey!" Erza cut the woman off, finally having finished her sixth piece of strawberry cheesecake. "He is not a _stupid_ cat! In fact, he's quite intelligent-"

"Erza!" Happy looked elated…

"For a cat!" She finished.

And then he didn't.

"If he was so smart, he would have found a way to get into Music Magic!" Ultear came back with.

"That's our fault for not being good enough to be accepted!" Erza stated, confident in her words.

"Hold on." Jellal suddenly stated, grabbing everyone's attention. "Your problem is that all the spots are filled, right?"

Erza nodded, "That is indeed our problem. Why?"

"Well…what if I gave you one of my spots?"

"Huh?" Everyone stared at him in shock, Ultear doubly so.

To Be Continued…

* * *

**So?**


	3. Chapter 3

Fairies Will Play

"Well…what if I gave you one of my spots?"

"Huh?" Everyone stared at him in shock, Ultear doubly so.

"B-but Jellal, that's preposterous!" Ultear began, "You deserved those spots! Also, I don't think the fans will take much of a liking to that." She calmed herself down, trying not to freak out too badly.

Erza stepped forward, "While I am grateful for the offer, she's right. A lot of people will be going to see you. Missing out on that would greatly displease them." She hated giving up a chance like this, but she would rather the audience be happy than her small group.

Jellal turned towards the redhead, staring straight into her eyes. Her heartbeat increased slightly; his gaze seemed to be piercing her soul. And a sudden tinge of recognition entered into his eyes as they gazed at one another. "Excuse me," He started. "But, are you…Erza Scarlet?"

She jumped a little bit in surprise, as he seemed to know her. "Um…y-yes I am. Have…have we met before?" He continued to stare at her, the light in his eyes dying out a little bit.

He sighed, shaking his head. "No, I just…I think I might've seen you in an article somewhere before. Sorry if I surprised you."

She nodded, "N-no problem." Now she was really confused; and that tattoo seemed even more familiar than before.

"So have about a duet?" Jellal suddenly threw out.

Everybody stared at him in confusion, "W-what?" It was all anyone could get out.

Jellal sighed, "I, Jellal, will sing a song with you, Fairy Tail, as the wrap-up for Music Magic." He pointed at Gajeel, "I'll let you play your guitar, so I'll only be singing," He then pointed to Erza, "And so neither one of us is left out of the show, we'll both sing." Still nobody talked, "Can I take your silence as a yes or no?" He spread his arms out in a questioning gesture.

Erza suddenly bowed, "Thank you for this! We will gladly accept this offer!" Seeing that Erza was bowing, Lucy and Levy suddenly did as well.

"Um…it's not really that big of a deal." Jellal trying saying, but Erza straightened up at that.

"It is impolite to not give our thanks for such a thing!" The redhead explained.

The bluenette put his hands up in front of him, "No, really. It's not that big of a deal." He looked over at Ultear who had basically frozen in place. "Um…Ultear?" He poked her shoulder, getting no response. "Right…" He looked back over at Fairy Tail, "You'll meet me at my hotel tomorrow for practice. It's called the Tower of Paradise. It's not very far from here. I'm in room…" He looked over Ultear.

"Forty-seven…"

"Right, room forty-seven. I'll have the song ready by then." He promised, giving a slight bow of his head as he left, Ultear quickly following after him.

As the door closed, Fairy Tail could only stare in disbelief at what had just taken place. Suddenly, like an explosion, Fairy Tail began cheering; even Gray and Natsu were able to get along. Except for Erza, who simply stared at the door, thinking about this boy she now knew as Jellal.

. . .

"I-I can't believe what you just did! Why would you do that?! Do you know how many other bands would've killed for the chance to sing with you?!" Ultear shook her head, "This can't be happening! Now I have to work with that two-bit cat of a manager!" Jellal simply stayed quiet, looking thoughtfully at the ground. She then realized that he was thinking about something, "Is something wrong, Jellal?"

"It was the color of her hair…" He mumbled.

Ultear cocked her head, "I'm sorry, what?" Jellal didn't answer, but just kept walking. She sighed, deciding that she would just have to work with it, seeing as the plans had already been made. She slowly shook her head, pulling out her phone to update everyone.

. . .

"That was quite the lucky break, wasn't it?" Lucy asked, walking with measured steps, everyone else behind her.

"Tell me about it!" Natsu answered back, "That guy's alright in my book!" He walked with his hands behind his head, eyes looking slightly up into the sky.

"We should get some rest for tomorrow." Mirajane recommended. "That way we'll be at our best and hopefully won't be any trouble towards him."

Erza nodded, "That sounds good. Besides, it seems we've whittled our day away with the food."

"Speaking of which…" Gray said, looking down at the bag carrying the triple strawberry cheesecakes that Erza was carrying.

"I thought I'd pick up my breakfast for tomorrow while we were there?" Erza responded, pulling the bag close to her.

"Breakfast?" Lucy wondered, wondering how Erza stayed in such good shape with how much she ate. She then yawned and stretched, "Whatever. Rest sounds good right about now!" She hurried her pace up, everyone else keeping up pretty easily.

They reached their tour bus, where they found Juvia waiting for them. "Good evening everyone. It's getting late, so I'd like you all to follow me to the hotel we'll be staying at." Without a word, everyone followed behind her as she led the way.

. . .

Okay, now I wouldn't say it was…terrible, but I would much more quickly say it was than I would say it was great. The group stared at the shanty "hotel", which looked like it was ready to fall apart as it was. Lucy couldn't even imagine what nine more people would do to it. "Well, let's go in." Erza stated.

"JUST LIKE THAT?!" Lucy screamed in confusion as everyone went in without a second thought. She sighed, "Maybe I'm the weird for doubting its endurance." As she said this, Erza foot snapped through the first step of the stairs. _So, I was right to worry, or those cakes _are _going somewhere._ Lucy dared not speak that thought aloud, the fear of what might happen if she did front and center within her mind. It didn't take long for the commotion to start. The staircase pretty much fell to pieces as everyone tried to go up.

"Y'know," Gajeel started, piled under everyone else except for Erza. "Maybe sleeping in the bus _isn't_ such a bad idea." Everyone nodded in agreement, trying to get up to move. Mirajane had somehow avoided getting piled on, now trying to help everyone up. Lucy sighed, walking over to assist everyone else.

This was going to be a long night…

. . .

A drove of notes played out, as lyrics were supposedly made from thin air. He quickly jotted down the words as he sang them, deciding what worked and what didn't. He had already drank three cups of coffee at this point, beginning to regret his decision to make an entirely new song for the duet. But, eventually, he got it finished. He looked at the clock; it had struck midnight. He sighed, "Another late night." He put his guitar down and sat down at his couch, going through the lyrics and note sheets two or three more times, wanting everything to be perfect for when Fairy Tail got to his place the next day. It has hit twelve-thirty by the time he was happy with his work and, thankfully, the coffee had started to ware off. He put the sheets into a neat little stack before setting his alarm for six. He began to stretch as he yawned, turning off the lights and slowly lying down in his bed.

"Please get here soon, Erza…"

To Be Continued…

* * *

**Okay...so it's not coming out as the _worst_ story I've ever written...**

**Though I still have very little idea of where I'm going with this...**


	4. Chapter 4

Fairies Will Play

As the sun rose, as did, the groans of Fairy Tail. Compacted into the now-cramped space known as their tour bus, the group once realized how small their tour bus actually was. Of course, they've slept like this while on the road, but it still remained an unpleasant endeavor; especially for the girls, who had to listen to the dragon-like snores that Natsu and Gajeel let out, along with Gray, who slept in the nude.

Happy and Juvia stepped into the back of the bus, seeing that they were all still asleep. Happy nodded to Juvia, covering his ears with his hands. Giving him a moment to do so, Juvia pulled out a whistle and blew into is as hard as she could, waking everyone up like an earthquake had just come crashing through. Everyone shook out of their sleep and into grogginess, scrambling out of their sheets as they tried to get up. Once he was sure the noise was over, Happy uncovered his ears. "Come on! Everyone up! It's already eight! We've got to get going for your practice with Jellal!"

Natsu, Lucy and Levy groaned in response, Erza and Mirajane already up and moving. Gray sat up, kicking Gajeel by accident as he did. The guitarist groaned in pain, grabbing his shoulder in response. He sat up, looking around, dazed. Eventually he forgot about it as he saw everyone start to change. Lucy had put up a divider so that the guys and girls wouldn't see one another. With that knowledge, everyone changed as fast as they could.

With the usual morning hassle out of the way, Fairy Tail headed for Tower of Paradise where Jellal said he would be staying at.

. . .

They decided to walk, seeing as the hotel wasn't _that_ far from where they were parked. It only took them about ten minutes to reach the hotel where, for some reason, Jellal was waiting outside for them. He watched as they walked closer, Erza being the first one to speak. "I don't see the point of telling us which room you're in if you're going to wait out here to escort us in."

Jellal shook his head, "We won't be practicing inside of the hotel. That would be stupid as well noisy. We found a nearby warehouse where we won't disturb anyone. Follow me." He began walking off, not checking to see if any of them were following him. The members of Fairy Tail glanced at one another before deciding to follow. Jellal led them to his own tour bus. "Seeing as you walked, we'll take my bus to get us there." He stated, patting the side of the vehicle before opening the door to enter.

The ride was…awkward, to say the least. Jellal didn't say a single word, his silence inviting everyone else's silence. Erza specifically, couldn't talk because of her own thoughts and the meeting with him the other day. As she thought about it more and more, the only conclusion she could come to was that they had met before. The problem was though, that she couldn't remember specifically where they might've met. Eventually her pondering ended, as they finally reached warehouse. "We're here." Jellal stated, getting up as the bus came to a stop. "Come on." He opened the door to the bus and stepped out, walking towards the warehouse.

Everyone stepped out, following after him. Ultear and Juvia stepped out from the front, Happy having stayed behind at Fairy Tail's own tour bus. Probably eating fish…or sleeping, whichever.

He walked up to the large metal warehouse, unlatching the chain that kept the door in place. He let the linked iron fall to the ground with a clunk, grabbing the door with both hands and throwing it open with a slight effort. He beckoned them in with hand. Once everyone was inside, he closed the large door behind them. The first thing Fairy Tail noticed was the large amount of space. Barely anything occupied the space of the large metal enclosure, save for some wooden crates and some barrels. The second thing they noticed were the instruments and stereos, all placed in the way they would be on a stage. Jellal turned to Ultear, "Thanks for having everything set up for us."

She nodded, "Well, seeing as I'm not going to be able to talk you out of this, I decided it would be best to go all in with this. Besides, you've never had a bad performance. I'm not going to let this barbaric group of a band ruin that record." _Especially since that does harm to _me_ as well as you._ She clapped her hands to get everyone's attention. "Alright, listen up! We've got six days until Music Magic begins! I've already looked over the song you'll be playing and I've also taken the liberty of having the music sheets copied and set around around your stations!" She turned towards Jellal, "For the moment, I'll have to go, for I have other business to attend to, so please update me if anything goes wrong."

"Will do." He answered back lazily. Ultear sighed and walked off, Jellal helping her with the warehouse door. He closed it after seeing Ultear leave in a black car that she primarily used for business. He turned to everyone else, who were adjusting things to the way they were comfortable with. Natsu and Gajeel were tuning their instruments, as were Lucy and Levy. Gray and Mirajane were finding their most comfortable sitting positions, while Erza was adjusting the microphone stand to suit her height. Jellal glanced over at Juvia who was standing to the side, looking as though she were prepared to take notes, with a clipboard and pen in hands. He walked over to the second microphone stand, adjusting his own for his preferred mood. He gave everyone the ten-or-so minutes they needed to look over the music sheets before deciding that it was time to practice. "Everyone ready?" He took a look around as everyone nodded, "Alright then, um..."

"Gajeel." He filled in.

"Okay, Gajeel. Start us off."

As he said to do, Gajeel began the multitude of notes, starting off with low notes to introduce the tune, and slowly raising in volume, until it finally peaked and burst in intensity. Gray and Natsu, following the music sheets, followed the rhythm with their own, Gray going with faster, lighter hits while Natsu began a flurry of strokes on the middle and top of the neck of his bass. Lucy and Levy joined in, as did Mirajane as Jellal began singing.

_One to one  
Standing all alone  
__Together again  
__But you've let go_

Gray increased the intensity of his rhythm, while Gajeel pulled his down to a gentle flurry, everyone continuing their own rhythm. Erza took a breath as she prepared to sing her first part.

_Take another step  
Into that place you call paradise  
While I just sit here and forget  
Because I've let go_

Lucy pulled her rhythm down to a slow tune, as did Natsu, while Gray began a looping three-beat rhythm. It was Jellal's turn.

_Was it something that I did  
Was I not memorable to you  
Even in those eyes of your  
It's still worth it to me_

_All those promises we made  
Never meant a damn  
But even with all that  
I'm still holding on_

Erza and Jellal both sang in unison as the general rhythm of the song increased.

_There's nothing left of us  
We're no longer a thing  
But even with all that  
We were once before_

Jellal dropped off, letting Erza to sing alone.

_Take another step  
Into that place you call hell  
While I just sit here and let_ you fall  
_Because I've let go_

The two of them took a step back as Natsu and Gajeel starting turning up the intensity of their instruments, letting gray increase the rate of his own rhythm. Lucy and Levy fell into rhythms that were fairly similar, but different enough to give some compliments to the other. Even Mirajane increased her rate. After a twenty second span of this, the music began dying down as Jellal stepped back up to his microphone.

_I can't take this  
This hell called memory lane  
That I walk alone  
A stranger to happiness_

_So I'm gonna change my path  
I'll veer off to you  
Walk away from that darkness  
Because I'm still holding on_

. . .

They next two hours went by quickly, throats dry, wrists hurting, fingers blazing. The sat down, resting on some of the crates, drinking and eating some food and beverages that Ultear had left for them just in case they got hungry, or thirsty, before practice was over. "Okay, so for the moment, that'll do." Jellal stated, his voice hoarse from dryness. He cracked open a bottle of vitamin water, chugging it down as quickly as he was able.

"Well, it seemed we had the song down at about the fourth time." Erza stated. She was curious about the reason for the lyrics, but decided against asking, thinking that it was probably something personal for Jellal. And she would be right, though at the time, she didn't know how right she was. She grabbed some strawberry flavored juice, seeing as it was the closest thing to strawberry cheesecake around. _I should've brought some of my own to eat._

Gray and Mirajane were stretching, having been forced to sit down for two hours straight. Though once they felt alright standing up, the two began massaging their wrists. "Thanks, by the way." Mirajane began, "We wouldn't have been able to get into the show at all if you hadn't helped us." Jellal nodded, taking another drink of his vitamin water to put some moisture into his dry throat.

Once he finished with his drink, he threw it into a trash bag that they were given to put their trash into, since there weren't any trash cans just floating around. "By the way, I don't think we properly introduced ourselves." He said this because of the earlier even with Gajeel, now thinking that it would be better to get to know all of the names. "I guess I'll start. I'm Jellal Fernandes."

"I'm Natsu Dragneel!"

"Gray Fullbuster."

"I'm Lucy Heartfilia and this is Levy McGarden." She said, grabbing her friend's shoulders.

"Hello!" Levy waved.

"Gajeel Redfox."

"It's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Mirajane Strauss." She said with a flourish.

"And as you seem to already know, I'm Erza Scarlet." She politely bowed her head, as she had been taught when she was a child; and taken very seriously.

Jellal bowed his head in response, "It's nice to meet all of you." He then remembered the woman who had stayed to take notes. He looked and saw he sitting up against a wall, sleeping. "Uh..." He started, pointing a finger over at her. Everyone turned.

"Oh that's...Juvia Lockser. She's our manager's assistant." Gray explained.

"Our manager's name is Happy, by the way!" Natsu stated.

Jellal cocked an eyebrow, "Just...Happy?" They all nodded in confirmation. "Uh...huh." Jellal took a look at his watch. "Well, it's only been ten minutes. Another fifteen minutes and we'll get back to practice, that sound okay?"

Erza nodded, "That's fine." She spoke for everyone, even though Natsu, Gajeel and Lucy would've rather spent the rest of their day having fun. But oh well. Practice was important, as Erza and Mirajane had always explained to them before.

To Be Continued...

* * *

**Don't know why I actually put effort into thinking up some lyrics, but whatever! I'm not going to take them out, seeing as I already wrote the sequence. That would just be a waste...**

**Anyway, tell me what you think, and any ideas, criticism, feedback, etc. are all appreciated.**


End file.
